“Haah…”
After playing games in the Dormitory for a while, Lu Ren felt his eyelids grow heavy, so he yawned, climbed into bed, and silently recited the method Xu Wenxing had taught him, giving himself a mental hint.
In a daze, Lu Ren closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
When Lu Ren woke up again, the sky outside had already grown dark.
Looking at the dim nightscape, Lu Ren sat up in bed, rubbed his eyes, then turned over and got out of bed to get his phone.
Once he had his phone, Lu Ren instinctively glanced at the screen.
It showed 5:59 p.m. on the dot, and the wallpaper was the one Lu Ren was familiar with.
“I slept for so long in just one go…”
With a hint of wonder, Lu Ren turned on his computer and browsed the local news.
Though the computer screen was dim and a bit blurry, Lu Ren could still confirm from City A’s daily news that today had passed uneventfully.
After reading the news, Lu Ren stood up, poured himself a cup of warm water, and sat down on the chair, zoning out for a while.
By the time he snapped back to reality, the water in his cup had long since gone cold.
Draining the cup in one go, Lu Ren casually grabbed his Dormitory key, stuffed it in his pocket, and decided to head to the Dining Hall to grab a bite before coming back for more games to relax.
When he reached Xu Wenxing, Lu Ren curiously glanced at Xu Wenxing’s computer screen, which hadn’t been shut off yet, and ended up seeing something truly unexpected.
It was a risqué image of Blazing Flame, dressed in a reversed bunny girl outfit.
He couldn’t understand what was so appealing about a flat-chested Magic Girl in that kind of outfit, but judging from the comments below the image, it seemed lots of people were quite satisfied with it?
People’s tastes really are strange.
Lu Ren sighed, opened the Dormitory door, and headed downstairs.
Perhaps because it was the weekend, there were far fewer people in the Dormitory building today, not even the Auntie Dormitory Supervisor was around.
The Delivery Guys were still active as ever, constantly stacking takeout orders on the racks and calling students on their phones.
But what really puzzled Lu Ren was: when did the Delivery Guys start wearing these black masks and pure black, hooded outfits?
Do you have to wear a uniform even to deliver takeout at school now?
Lu Ren couldn’t figure it out, but he didn’t pay it much mind and continued toward the Dining Hall.
Even though it was dinner time, he barely saw anyone along the way.
When he reached the entrance of the Dining Hall, Lu Ren still hadn’t seen more than a few students.
Even more bizarre, half the windows in the Dining Hall were closed today.
What’s going on?
Curious, Lu Ren entered the Dining Hall, approached a Cafeteria Uncle resting on a bench, and took the initiative to ask.
“Uncle, sorry to bother you. I was wondering why half the windows aren’t open?”
“…Oh, it’s because their area is leaking water, so they can’t open for now.”
Lu Ren wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but when the Uncle on the bench turned to look at him, his movements seemed strange—stiff, like a robot that hadn’t received a command.
“Leaking water?”
“Mm, lately everywhere is leaking water leaking water leaking water leaking water…”
When Lu Ren tried to confirm the situation again, the Uncle nodded and told him what had been going on, but in an unnerving way, repeating those meaningless words again and again.
Just like a malfunctioning robot.
Listening to the Uncle repeat that strange phrase, with the once-bright lights growing dimmer and dimmer, Lu Ren stared at him in silence for a long time, and then suddenly smiled.
“…So I really am dreaming.”
The moment Lu Ren realized his situation, everything shattered with a crash.
In an instant, the sound of breaking glass rang in Lu Ren’s ears, the Dining Hall lights collapsed all at once, stirring up clouds of dust.
The once-kind Cafeteria Uncle instantly turned into a grotesque monster, his entire body covered in tumors oozing green, unidentified fluid, his gaping maw filled with squirming, disgusting maggots.
“Meat…fresh meat!”
The monster’s left hand gripped a bloodstained butcher’s knife, while its right had turned into an impossibly sharp hook, its face twisted in a snarl as it approached Lu Ren, swinging the blade at him.
Seeing the cleaver about to strike him, Lu Ren’s heart pounded wildly, warning him to dodge the blow to avoid being killed on the spot by this monster.
But instead of acting, Lu Ren did nothing at all.
He simply stood there, quietly, watching the monster swing the knife at him.
“Crack!”
The sound of flesh and bone being torn apart rang in Lu Ren’s ears, intense pain spreading through his body.
His severed right hand fell to the floor in a bloody mess and started crawling forward on its own.
But Lu Ren suddenly wanted to laugh.
So he looked at the monster hacking away at him and began to laugh.
“Did you really think you could kill me so easily? Aren’t you being a bit too optimistic?”
“Did you forget? This is my dream.”
Even though he had already lost his right hand, Lu Ren still managed to fish a Red Star Pendant out of his pocket and held it up in front of him.
Then he smiled at the grotesque monster and spoke, word by word.
“Transformation!”
Hearing Lu Ren’s words, the hideous monster swung its knife in fury, slicing Lu Ren’s body into countless pieces on the spot.
But Lu Ren didn’t dodge at all. He simply watched as the key in his hand radiated a brilliant red light, transforming into a blazing Spear before his eyes.
No sweet girlish laughter, no intricate crimson magical array.
This time, Lu Ren’s Transformation simply turned his Magical Outfit into a Spear.
Looking at the burning Spear before him, Lu Ren—whose consciousness should have been lost, sprawled on the floor—reached out and grasped the Spear out of thin air, muttering to himself.
“Let’s begin.”
“Ultimate Regalia Drive!”
As Lu Ren gripped the Spear, a set of Scarlet Armor floated in midair, flying toward the distant shadows.
With a crisp “crack,” a red-haired girl, barely over one and a half meters tall, emerged from the shadows, absorbing all of Lu Ren’s flesh and blood into herself.
She smiled sweetly at the monster before her, reached out to take the Spear from afar, and spoke to the monster not far away in a voice full of joy.
“Come on, savor the pleasures of hell, Nightmare Monster!”
“ROAR!!!”
The monster, transformed into the Butcher Monster, seemed to understand Blazing Flame’s words.
It roared furiously and, with its massive body, charged straight at Blazing Flame.